Laurence v



(No Model.)

L. V. BENT.

SAFETY LOCK FOR MACHINE GUNS. No. 533,859. f Patented Feb. l2, 1895.

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LAURENCE V. BENT, OF PARIS, FR

ANCE, ASSIGNOR TO THE I-IOTOHKISS ORDNANOE COMPANY, LIMITED, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

SAFETY-LOCK FOR MACHINE-GU NS.

SPECIFICATION formngipart of Letters Patent No. 533,859, dated February 12, 1895.

Application filed .Tune 27, 1894.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LAURENCE V. BENT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Paris, inthe Republic of France, have invented new and useful Improvements in Safety-Locks for Guns, of which the following is a specication.

All guns are liable to what is technically known as hang lire and this is particularly the case when brown and smokeless powders are employed, as a defect in the priming may cause a very appreciable time to elapse between pulling the lanyard or the fall of the firing pin and the discharge of the piece. In the heat of action when the gun is being iiredat its maximum rapidity, the cannoneer operating the breech mechanism works almost automatically, and may, (as has occurred) open the breech after the primer has been struck but before the discharge of the piece, thus causing a disastrous accident. In a machine gun, where, as in the well known Hotchkiss revolving cannon, the rotating of the barrels, theloading and tiring mechanism and the extraction and discharge of the cartridges are actuated by the rotation of a single shaft through its various connections, the cannoneer turns the crank continuously, and a hang lire cartridge may explode during extraction, or even upon the ground, with' equally grave results.

Heretofore the safety lock as far as known to me, has been so located in the gun breech that it engages directly with the gun body or vice versa, or it has been so located in the gun breech as to engage with a recess in the breech-block crank, or vice versa. In both instances it has the great disadvantage of occupying a position difficult of access to the cannoneer, and of having a construction which renders it unavailable where the adjacent parts of the breech and 'breech block are concealed or undercover, or otherwise inaccessible. In the secondinstance, the recessing of the breech-block crank, either to engage with or to contain the safety lock is a source of great Weakness to a part of the gun mechanism which When in use, is subject to a severe strain, and for this reason is practically unavailable.

The object of my invention is to remedy these objections by providing a means for Serial No. 515.848. (No model.)

locking automatically an exterior part of the breech block operating `mechanism of a quick firing machine or other gun, in such a mann'er that the vmechanism cannot be operated of the piece except by a definite and conscious action on the part of the cannoneer; by providing means for automaticallyunlocking or releasing the breech operating mechanism and to provide means for throwing the safety lock out of action when it is desired to manipulate the gun without firing, as at drill.

My object is to further provide a safety locking device which can be equally well applied to the breech operating mechanism, the tiring mechanism or the barrel revolving mechanism of a gun either one or all, to maintain the breech closed until after firing, and Whether such operating mechanism be concealed in the breech block as in the case of the Hotchkiss revolving cannon, or in any other inaccessible location, Where such mechanism is actuated by an exterior projecting, rotatable or movable part.

My invention consists in placing a springsafety lock actuated by inertia in thepath of a laterally projecting exterior rotating rocking or moving part of the firing, breech actuating or barrel revolving mechanism of the gun, and in providing it with a Sear so located in respect to such part, that said safety lock shall be automatically caused to lock said ro` tating, rocking or moving part, by the movement of said partitself into a position in which the gun breech is closed, until said safety lock upon the above operation is again repeated.

My invention further consists in a particular looking cam device, by which the safety lock can be thrown out of action at will.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate my invention: Figure lis a viewof the safety lock applied to the bevel pinion on the crank shaft of the well known Hotchkiss revolving cannon. Figs. 2, 3, and 4. are detail views of the safety lock shown in Fig. l with zontal longitudinal section through the same. A Fig. lis the breech piece, B the main shaft, B the pinion of the mechanism, and C immediately upon the discharge of the piece.

and the breech opened before the discharge ,is withdrawn by the tiring of the gun, Wherev the front plate removed, and Fig. 5 is ahori- IOC is the crank for manipulating the shaft and pinion, all of a well known construction.

D is the box or case attached to theframe ofthe gun.

E is the safety bolt. E is its extremity proj ectin gthrough the aperture D in the case.

F is a stop mounted upon the pinion B in position to engage with the bolt when the latter is thrust forward and the pinion is revolved. j

E2 is the coiled spring located in the recess e2 in the rear of the bolt and abutting against the end ofthe case.

G is the spring sear secured to the case D and engaging through the slot d withthe notch e of the bolt, when the latter is thrust back and the spring compressed.

g is the tail of the sear projecting Ypath of the stop F on the pinion B.

In this instance the operation of the safety lock is as follows: When the gun is inthe position shown in Fig. I the tiring pin has struck the primer of the cartridge. In order to reach the point at which the barrels begin jto revolve opening the breech, the pinion B and with it the stop F is turned through an into the angle of ninety degrees, but if the discharge yof the gunhas not taken place, the projecting extremity E of the safety bolt encounters the stop F on the pinion before the full movement is completed and prevents the opening of the breech. If the discharge has taken place theigun recoils and the inertia of the bolt overcomes the resistance of the spring E, compresses it andv allows the sear G to spring up and maintain the bolt withdrawn in the position shown in Fig. 2. The pinion B can now complete its revolution and the stop F striking the tail g of thesear G forces it down' releasing the bolt E which resumes its original position under the stress of the spring E2. In theevent of a hang fire the bolt E may be withdrawn by means of the handle e3 and the stop F allowed to pass. To throw the safety lock completely out of action, as when operating the vgun at drill, I mount the lever II on a shaft I passing through the face of the box and projecting into a recessed chamber e4 in the bolt E. On the shaft I is the eccentric cam 't' which bears against the end wall of the chamber e4 when the lever is turned to the danger position, holding the bolt sufficiently withdrawn to permit of the stop F, but not sufficiently to permit the scar to engage.

I do not limit myself to the combination of the safety lock as constructed by me with the pinion B and the stop F as it is evident that anylaterally projecting exterior part rotating or moving in the path of the safety lock, will be within the scope of my invention.

`Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a breech loading gun the main shaft B the pinion B mounted on said shaft, the stop F on said pinion, and a safety lock having a bolt held normally in the path of the' stop by a spring, and withdrawn from und er the stop by means, of the recoil of the gun, substantially as described.

2. In a breech loading gun, the main shaft B, the pinion B mounted on the shaft, the stop F on said pinion and a safety lock having a bolt held normally in the path of the stop by a spring, and withdrawn from under the stop by means of the recoil of the gun, and a spring sear for locking said bolt when withdrawn having an arm projecting into the path of said stop, substantially as described.

3. The combination of a case D, the bolt E located therein and having the recessed chamber e4, the spring E2 located in the recess e? in the rear of the bolt, the spring sear G, the lever H on the exterior Vof .the case, its shaft I passing-through the face of the case and the eccentric cam t' mounted on the shaft and bearing against the walls of the recess e4 in the bolt E, substantially as described.

4. In a breech loading revolving gun having the pinion B', the combination with the stop F on the pinion, of the case D secured to the gun, the bolt E located therein having the recesses e2 and e4 and normally projecting into the path of the stop F, the spring E2 located in the recess e2 in the rear of the bolt, the spring sear G having the tail g projecting into the path of the stop F, the lever I^I on v the exterior of the case, its shaft L passing throughthe face of the case, the eccentric cam t' mounted on the shaft .within the recess e4 of the bolt, and the handle e3 of the bolt, substantially as described.

5. The combination with a safety lock for a gun, said lock having a bolt adaptedto be actuated by the recoil of the gun, of a locking cam located in the path of said bolt and a.

device to throw said cam into and out of engagement with said bolt, substantially as de-V LAURENCE v. BENEr.

Witnesses:

CHARLES KUREE, THEoDoR FAVAEGEE.

IIO 

